Pachelbel's Canon (also known as the Canon in D, P 37) is an accompanied canon by the German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. The canon was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue, known as Canon and Gigue for 3 violins and basso continuo. Both movements are in the key of D major. The piece is constructed as a true canon at the unison in three parts, with a fourth part as a ground bass throughout. Neither the date nor the circumstances of its composition are known (suggested dates range from 1680 to 1706), and the oldest surviving manuscript copy of the piece dates from 1838 to 1842.[1]
Like his other works, Pachelbel's Canon went out of style, and remained in obscurity for centuries. A 1968 arrangement and recording of it by the Jean-François Paillard chamber orchestra gained popularity over the next decade, and in the 1970s the piece began to be recorded by many ensembles; by the early 1980s its presence as background music was deemed inescapable.[2] From the 1970s, elements of the piece, especially its chord progression, were used in a variety of pop songs. Since the 1980s, it has also found increasingly common use in weddings and funeral ceremonies in the Western world.[3][4]
- ^ RISM 455034292 Pachelbel, Johann (1653–1706): Canon and Gigue in D major
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
prisonerswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Levine, Alexandra S. (9 May 2019). "How 'Canon in D Major' Became the Wedding Song". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Funeral survey charts the demise of popular hymns". Co-Operative Funeralcare. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2016.